Progressivism and the
Republican Roosevelt,
1901-1912
The Progressive Era 1901-1918
Origins of Progressivism
A. Lasts through presidencies of Roosevelt (1901-1909) and William
Howard Taft (1909-1913) and first term of Democrat Woodrow Wilson
(1913-1917)
B. Attitudes and Motives
1. Relatively homogenous, rural society turns into industrialized
nation of mixed ethnicity and growing cities
2. Rising of big business, increasing gap between rich and poor,
dominance of corrupt political machines
3. Jim Crow Laws
4. Groups participating: Protestant church leaders, African
Americans, Union leaders, feminists
5. Progressive: belief that changes in society were badly needed and
that government was the proper agency for correcting social and
economic ills
C. Who were the Progressives?
1. Middle class residents of
U.S. cities
2. Missionary spirit
a. Code of social
responsibility: caring for poor,
honesty in public life
b. Social Gospel –
important element in response
to problem of urban poverty
3. Theodore Roosevelt and
Robert La Follete (Republican
party) and William Bryan and
Woodrow Wilson (Democratic
party)
D. What was the Progressive’s philosophy?
1. Committed to democratic values and shared belief in honest government
and laws to improve human condition
2. Charles Darwin – Origin of Species – evolution
a. Thought and reason challenged; pragmatism
3. William James and John Dewey define “truth”: people should take a
practical approach to morals; experiment with ideas and laws to test
them in action to see if it benefits society
4. Pragmatism: challenge fixed notions that stood in the way of reform
a. Rejected laissez fair
E. Scientific Management
1. Frederick W. Taylor – scientific management system: way of organizing
people
a. Government should be placed in the hands of experts and scientific
managers
The Muckrakers
A. “Dirty realities” of party politics and scandalous conditions of
factories and slums written in magazines and journal reports
B. Origins
1. Henry Lloyd – wrote Wealth Against Commonwealth and
exposed corruption and greed of oil monopoly but failed to
suggest how to control it
C. Magazines
1. Samuel Sidney McClure – founded McClure’s Magazines –
shocking exposes of political and economical corruption
D. Books
1. Jacob Riis – How the Other Half Lives
2. Lincoln Steffens – The Shame of the Cities
3. Theodore Dreisers – The Financier and the Titan
4. Frank Norris – The Octopus and the Pitt
E. Decline of Muckraking: exposed inequities, educated public about
corruption in high places and prepared way for corrective action
Political Reforms in Cities and States
A.
Voter Participation: Honest officials
1. Secret ballot – voters drop tickets into ballot box
a. 1888- Massachusetts first state to adopt system
2. Direct primaries – nominating party candidates by majority vote
a. Some southern states used this to exclude African Americans from
voting
3. Direct election of U.S. senators
a. Nevada first state to give voters opportunity to elect U.S. senators
directly
4. Initiative, referendum, and recall
a. Initiative – voters could compel the legislature no consider a bill
b. Referendum – allowed citizens to vote on proposed
c. Recall – enabled voters to remove corrupt politician from office bu
major vote before that official’s term has expired
B. Social Welfare
1. Jane Addams and Frances Kelly need political support in state
legislatures for meeting needs of immigrants and working class
2. Worked for better schools, juvenile courts, liberalized divorce
laws, and safety regulations for tenements and factories
3. Fought for system of parole, separate reformatories for juveniles
and limits on death penalty
Municipal Reform
1.
Mayor Samuel M. “Golden
Rule” – introduces program
including free kindergartens,
night schools, public
playgrounds
2.
Tom L. Johnson – cause of tax
reform and three cent trolley
fares for people; fought for
ownership and operation of city
public utilities and services
a. 1915 – two thirds of
nation’s cities own water
systems
b. Also operated gas lines,
electric power plants and urban
transportation systems
3.
Municipal government
a. Texas first to adopt
commission plan for
government
State Reform
A.
B.
C.
Whether or not to shut down saloons and prohibit the drinking of
alcohol
Wanted to abolish liquor
1915 – two thirds of legislature want to prohibit alcoholic beverages
Political Reform in the Nation
A. Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal
1. Strike of anthracite coal miners - called union leader and coal mine
owners - granted 10 percent wage increase and a nine hour day to miners
B. Trust- busting
1. Broke up “bad trusts” from “good trusts”
C. Railroad regulation
1. Elkins Act - ICC had greater authority to stop railroads from granting
rebates to favored customers
2. Hepburn Act - commission could fix “just and reasonable” rates for
railroads
D. Consumer protection
1. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair causes Congress to enact
a. Pure Food and Drug Act - forbade manufacture, sale,
transportation of adulterated or mislabeled foods or drugs
b. Meal Inspection Act - federal inspectors visit meatpacking plants
to ensure that they met minimum standards of sanitation
Earth Control
A. Acts for saving land
1. Desert Land Act of 1877 - federal gov. sold dry land for cheap under the
circumstance that the buyer irrigate the soil within three years
2. Forest Reserve Act of 1891 - the president could set aside public forests
and make them into national parks and other reserves
3. Carey Act of 1894 - federal was given out to states under the circumstance
that they irrigate the soil and settle it
4. Newlands Act of 1902 - Congress sold dry lands in western states and
used the money to develop irrigation projects
a. Settlers would then buy the newly irrigated lands and this money
was used to develop more irrigations projects
B. Roosevelt believed in saving the American “frontier”
1. He preserved the nation’s forests, coal deposits, and water resources
2. New nationalistic views started to form about the wilderness
a. Call of the Wind by Jack London and nature books caught city
people’s attention
b. Boy Scouts of America was made for city children
c. Sierra Club (1892) wanted to preserve the wilderness
C. In 1913, the Hetch Hetchy Valley controversy in San Francisco to build a
dam brought Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot to conflict. Preservation vs.
Commercial interest
D. Roosevelt’s policy: professional foresters and engineers developed
“mulitple-use resource-management”
1. Combined recreation, sustained yield logging, watershed
protection, and summer stock grazing on the same expanse of the federal
land
2. The use of resources meant large scale and long term planning
which involved strength of big biz and gov.
“Roosevelt Panic” of 1807
A. In his new term, he called for more
regulations for corp., taxed
incomes, and protected workers
B. 1907 financial setback on Wall St.
involved “runs” on the banks,
suicides, and criminal cases
against speculators
1. Blame was put on
Roosevelt - “Roosevelt Crisis”
C. Fiscal reforms were put in place:
elastic medium of exchange
D. Banks were unable to increase
volume of money circulation and
reserves were reluctant to lend to
less fortunate competitors
1.Aldrich-Vreeland Act of
1908 - congress authorized
national banks to use emergency
money from collateral
The Rough Rider Thunder Out
A. Roosevelt campaigned for William Howard Taft because Roosevelt saw
him as a man who would carry out his policies and he won election
B. Roosevelt was seen as a radical causing more trouble than laws but was
well-liked by the youth
C. Contributions: enlarged power and prestige of presidential office,
progressive reform, liberal reform, (Square Deal) and opened nation to
other world countries
Taft: A Rough Peg in a Square Hole
A. Had to deal with political handicaps; did not have Roosevelt’s
personality to deal with political problems
B. Nicknamed “Peaceful Bill” he was mild progressive
The Dollar Goes Abroad as a Diplomat
A. “Dollar Diplomacy” (1) used foreign policy to protect Wall St. money
invested abroad (2) used Wall St. money to uphold foreign policy
1. Wall St. bankers invested surplus money in foreign places, like Far
East and Panama Canal
2. Though to avoid being taken advantage of (Ger), America built up
its defenses and foreign policies
B. 1909-Secreatry of state Know proposed a group of Americans and foreign
bankers buy Manchurian railroads to have control of monopoly over Russia
and Japan
1. Taft was just seen as a joke with this plan as Japan and Russia
rejected it
C. In Caribbean, Wall St. bankers had to give money to avoid other foreign
help being supplied and because it was their duty due to the Monroe
Doctrine
Taft the Trustbuster
A. Gained fame as smasher of monopolies, bringing 90 suits against trusts
B. 1911-Supreme court ordered break up of Standard Oil Co.; it was in
violation of Sherman Anti-Trust Act
1. “Rule of Reason” : “unreasonably” restrained trade was illegal
C. 1911- Taft pressed antitrust suit against U.S. Steel Corp.
1. Upset Roosevelt; Taft = antagonist
Taft Split’s the Republican Party
A. Payne-Aldrich Bill was signed by Taft that lowered protective tariffs and
outraged progressive wing of Republican party
B. Bureau of Mines controlled mineral resources, reduced acres of W. coal
lands from exploitation, and protected water sites from private
development
C. Ballinger-Pinchot quarrel of 1910: Ballinger opened some W public lands
for corporate development and Pinchot criticized him because he supported
the Roosevelt policy of conservation
1. Taft dismissed Pinchot and protest from Conservationists and
Roosevelt’s friends developed
D. By 1910 Republican party was split and Roosevelt proclaimed “New
Nationalism” doctrine urging national gov. to increase power to help
economic and social abuses
E. In 1910, democrats were dominant in congress
The Taft Roosevelt Rupture
A.1911- National Progressive Republican Party was formed
B. Roosevelt changed views about Taft and protested against him;
Roosevelt wanted to go for a 3rd term joining the National Progressive
C. At the Republican Convention in Chicago 1912, Taft was in favor and the
Rooseveltites refused to vote and Taft won and Roosevelt failed his attempt
at a third term